Bayt-al-Harb took place secretly. The Non-Muslim pilgrims of Madinah were unaware of this treaty, therefore they expressed their ignorance about it when asked by the Quraysh. Their ignorance was justified as those seventy five Muslims who had held talks with the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) left for Madinah at dawn. They kept changing their course to avoid being followed by the Quraysh.

It was only after three days that the Quraysh came to know of this treaty. They later decided to arrest and bring back all the Muslims who were migrating to Madinah.

Normally, caravans covered the distance between Makkah and Madinah in eleven days, whereas the speedy white camels covered the same in three days. The Quraysh arranged for white camels to bring migrants back before they entered Madinah. As the Muslims had been changing their course, the Quraysh could not find them. One merchant who somehow had got separated from the Muslim caravan fell into their hands. He was brought back to Makkah and interrogated. He told about his presence in the caravan and of his return to Madinah but showed ignorance of the other Muslims having held talks and signed any treaty with the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).

He was telling the truth, as the Muslims did not let their secret out. In addition, the merchant was quite well off and like the other Arabs belonged to a tribe. If he had been pressed further by Quraysh, it would have resulted in tribal strife. He had also many friends in Makkah and was therefore released.

One can easily ask why the Quraysh did not arrest the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and get whatever information they wanted. The Quraysh could not afford this since the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was under the protégé of a tribe. They were helpless on account of this protection and therefore could not arrest him or conduct investigation. When the Muslims of Madinah returned to their homes, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) instructed the Muslims of Makkah to migrate to Madinah and reside in the houses of Ansar.

The Muslims of Makkah started leaving their city in small groups taking care not to alert the Quraysh. In a city like Makkah, where the people recognised each other well, the absence of some people was bound to come to the attention of the Quraysh. They could see that the Muslims were gradually migrating to Madinah, therefore decided to constrain and compel them to stay in Makkah.

During that period, three Muslims, Abbas bin Rabiyah, and the two brothers Umayyah and Hathim bin A’s, decided to leave Makkah. The night they were to leave, Hashim bin A’s was missing. Since he had been arrested. The other two had to leave for Madinah without him. The next day all the Makkans came to know of Hashim’s arrest.

In those days there was no jail in Makkah. The first prison of Arabia was built in Kufa, many years after the death of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). In those days whenever anyone was arrested he was punished, chained and left on the hot sands. The same was done with Hashim.

After the Muslims had migrated to Madinah, the time came for the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to leave. Here we should try to understand what migration would mean for the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) life. Apart from leaving his homeland it would mean severing completely all ties with his family, tribe and ancestors. This further meant the loss of all social and economic rights. Family ancestry and tribe were the same thing. Without the safety of tribal allegiance and support it was impossible to survive in the fire breathing skies and vast deserts of Arabia.

The situation in Makkah had become intolerable for the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to continue his mission. A divine message had also come to migrate. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) told this to his closest friend Abu Bakr^R.A. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) knew that the well-watered land between two tracts of black stones, which he had seen in a vision was Yathrib. He also knew that this time he too would be one of the emigrants. He told Abu Bakr^R.A that he hoped to live in Yathrib. As regards its timing much depended on the delegation that was expected from the oasis for the coming Pilgrimage".

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) left Makkah along with Abu Bakr^R.A and reached near the Cave of Thawr

He once said, "The Mount of Thawr, of all Allah’s earth, thou art the dearest place unto me and the dearest unto Allah". Aamir Ibn Fuhayrah, the shepherd whom Abu Bakr^R.A had bought as a slave and then set free and put in charge of his sheep, had followed behind them with his flock to cover up their tracks. When they reached the cave, Abu Bakr^R.A sent his son home with the camels, telling him to listen to what was said in Makkah. Aamir was to pasture his sheep as usual with the other shepherds during the day and to bring them to the cave at night, always covering up the tracks of Abdullah between Thawr and Makkah. The next night Abdullah returned to the cave accompanied by his sister Asma and food for the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).

Abu Bakr^R.A was three years older than the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). He was among the rich of Makkah. He had sacrificed all his wealth and property in the cause of Allah. He was now in penury. Though he was older and belonged to the elite of Quraysh, he swept the cave clean with his hands. He stuffed the holes in the rocks of the cave with pieces of cloth torn from his gown, so that poisonous snakes or scorpions may not harm the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). When he was satisfied, he invited the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to enter the cave.

In the same cave Abu Bakr^R.A dressed the wounds of the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) feet. As nothing comfortable was available that could be used for the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) head rest, Abu Bakr^R.A asked the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to rest his head on his lap. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) on seeing him tired and in want of rest, did not accept the offer and laid down on rocky earth to sleep.

There were numerous holes in the cave of Thawr. Abu Bakr^R.A covered one of them with his foot since he had run out of pieces of cloth. An irritated snake inside that hole found no outlet to escape. The snake bit Abu Bakr^R.A’s heel. He cried with pain and woke up. Drops of sweat rolled down his face and fell at the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) forehead who also woke up. He saw Abu Bakr^R.A’s face turning pale. When the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) knew about the snake bite, he immediately tied a cloth around the wound and sucked the poison out. This offered great relief to Abu Bakr^R.A who was then able to rest.

The night Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was travelling towards the cave of Thawr, some people of the Quraysh under a calculated plan entered the house of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to kill him. They had decided to send for this job one representative from each of the 12 tribes of Makkah. All the members of this group were to attack the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) together so that the blame would be divided. The Bani Hashim would not have been able to exact revenge from all the tribes and thus they would be saved from a feud with them. The men entered the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) house and found Ali^R.A, on his bed. Quite astonished they asked him whether the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had gone out of Makkah. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) knowing that youth of Quraysh was outside his house waiting to kill him, began to recite verses of Surah Ya-Sin and when he came to the words; "and We have enshrouded them, so that they see not" the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) left the house unseen.

Ali^R.A who was a truthful person answered affirmatively. On knowing this, the people of Quraysh spread around Makkah and started to look for the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) in the nearby desert. They also announced a prize of one hundred camels to the person who would find the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) or locate his place of refuge. The night Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) left his house it was the month of Safar the waning moon had risen over the eastern hills.

The Quraysh men passed by the entrance of the cave, but did not enter inside. A spider had spun its web at the cave’s mouth during the night. When the searchers found the strands of the web stretched across the entrance, they assumed that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had not entered the cave. If he had entered the cave, the web would surely have been broken.

After the first group of Quraysh men, a second group reached there. They noticed a nest of birds with eggs in it at the cave’s mouth. On seeing the eggs they too did not enter inside. Abu Bakr^R.A who was tired and suffering from the pain of snake-bite, became upset on seeing the Quraysh coming close to finding their hide-out. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) consoled him and assured him of Allah’s help. This incident has been mentioned in the fortieth verse of the Ninth Surah Tauba of the Holy Qur’an:

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and Abu Bakr^R.A stayed in the cave for three consecutive nights. On leaving it, they found the web and the nest intact. They were convinced that Allah’s help and Grace was with them.

The Quraysh gave up their exhausting pursuit as they felt tired and exhausted. Meanwhile Abu Bakr^R.A’s slave ‘Aamir bin Faheerah’, brought two white dromedaries to the cave. According to pre-planned arrangements the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and Abu Bakr^R.A rode towards Madinah as they found the way clear. They travelled along the coast to avoid being noticed.

They had no gowns over them. As the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had left in a hurry, he could not bring adequate dress with him. Their dress was badly torn. Anyone seeing them with torn cloths would have been bewildered as they were riding the best and the most expensive dromedaries of Arabia. The Quraysh had announced a prize of one hundred camels for anyone who would find the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).

One day when the chief of "Banu Madlej" tribe was busy conversing with some people, a person entered his tent and said, "O Saqarah! I have seen two camel-riders riding along the coast-line. I positively identified one of them as Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)".

On hearing how the person had identified Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), Saqarah was sure that the person he saw was Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). To exclude this person from sharing the reward, he misled him and said, "Oh no! you are mistaken, those two travellers were my guests the previous night and had started off from my place in the morning".

When that person left dis-hearted, Saqarah, along with some of his tribesmen began a pursuit for Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). They soon caught up with Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and Abu Bakr^R.A. On reaching very close to them, Saqarah pulled the reins, of his horse. The horse staggered and he fell down. He made three consistent attempts to reach the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) but each time he failed.

The Arabs of dark ages believed in superstition and fate, therefore when his horse fell the third time, Saqarah decided to try to predict his fortune in the venture. Whatever method he employed, the result pointed against the pursuit of Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). In spite of this the prize of one hundred camels was too much for him to ignore. He tried for the fourth time to set off in pursuit of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). This time again he failed.

On seeing this line of events, he called out to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), "O Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)! stop.... I want to have some words with you". Saqarah handed over his horse to his companions and went on foot towards the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and Abu Bakr^R.A. He said, "O Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)! I am in alliance with the Quraysh and I intended to arrest and present you before the Quraysh to get the reward of one hundred camels. I have realised now the truth of your Prophethood as my horse has fallen down four times and I could not reach you, therefore I predict your dominance upon the Quraysh one day". The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) asked, "What do you want?". He answered, "When you gain dominance over the Quraysh, promise you will neither punish me nor seek revenge from my tribe for my alliance with the Quraysh.". The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said that he would be under protection that day and no one would harm him or his tribe.

Afterwards Saqarah embraced Islam and was later noted among the leading commanders of Islam. He also prohibited the Quraysh in pursuit of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to enter the domains of his tribe. Whenever anyone came there, he used to misdirect him and say that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had not passed that way.

In some books, it has also been mentioned that during the journey of Hijrah, Abu Bakr^R.A’s servant Aamir bin Faheerah and another slave, who had been freed, also accompanied the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and Abu Bakr^R.A. The authors of these books have written that Aamir bin Faheerah knew the routes well and also served as guide.

Two days later Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and Abu Bakr^R.A met a caravan. A cousin of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), Zubayr bin Alawan was travelling with it. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was able to get some clothes and food from his cousin and continue with his journey. After travelling for two more days, they reached a tribe called "Aslem", whose chief "Aus bin Hajir" suggested to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to take a member of his tribe as guide so that he could reach the territories of Madinah safely. A guide named Masood accompanied the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).

In the deserts of Arabia, guide is not only one who directs the way but a human passport as well. His presence ensures the safety for the travellers with him. In desert all people are well acquainted to the guide. When he calls out loud and introduces himself, he is easily recognised and allowed to pass through.

Masood told the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) that he could only take them up to the limits of his tribal boundaries and not beyond. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) accepted this offer and with Abu Bakr^R.A resumed his journey guided by Masood.

On reaching near Quba the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) stopped and addressed Abu Bakr^R.A, "O Abu Bakr^R.A, let the dromedary which I am riding be sold to me", Abu Bakr^R.A replied in surprise, "O Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) why is she to be bought? I present this "Qaswa" to you as such".

Qaswa

When Abu Bakr^R.A observed that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was insisting on paying the price, he sold her for four hundred Dirhams to him. The name of this dromedary is well known in Islam. The reason for its significance will be understood later.

The valley of Quba was situated in the South of Madinah and was included in the territory of the city. Western historians say that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) entered Quba on 2 September 622 AD., but the Islamic historians state the date to be 16 July 622 AD. Since migration marked the beginning of the Islamic calendar and the day the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) reached Quba came in the month of Muharram, Muslims declare the 1st of Muharram for the commencement of the Islamic year. Even today Muslim nations use this date of Hijrah in their daily practices.

When the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) entered Quba on 16 July, it was very hot due to summer. The citizens of Quba had got the news of the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) likely arrival, therefore they left their houses at dawn to wait for. When the sun rose high and the heat increased, the people could not bear it and returned to their houses. When the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and Abu Bakr^R.A entered Quba, the sun had risen its half course and the earth was scorching enough to cause blisters on bare feet.

No one was present in the streets to witness the arrival of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) except one Jew named Shaloom. He was passing there the very moment the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was entering Quba. As soon as he saw the white dromedaries and the two persons riding them, he ran to the streets and called out aloud, "O Jews! Be aware! Your Deliverer has come". The Jews of Madinah, as already stated, like Muslims, were waiting for the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to eliminate their mutual differences that had made their lives miserable.

The people of Quba which included men, women and children in spite of severe heat, had gathered to have one glance at the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and Abu Bakr^R.A made their dromedaries sit before the two date-palm trees and climbed down to move under the shade. The people of Quba, including Muslims and Jews, gathered around them. They did not know who the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) of Islam was. Abu Bakr^R.A was three years older than the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). He stepped back and took off his gown to spread over the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) like a canopy to protect him from the heat of the sun. The shade of the trees was quite thin to protect the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). The canopy protected him better.

That very moment the people recognised the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and as the tradition was, they began raising "Halhalah" to welcome him. Halhalah was an expression of joy or welcome. Those who have lived in Arab countries are well acquainted to its style and meaning, as the traditional method continues even today.

The place where the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and Abu Bakr^R.A had climbed off their dromedaries was called "Mohallah Bani Umro bin Au’f". The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) inquired, "Who owns this place?" A young man stepped forward to answer, "This place is mine and I have sown these date-palm trees".

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Since you own this place, I want to ask your permission to stay for a while under the shade of these trees".

The man replied earnestly, "Why not. You may stay here as long as you wish". But at this instance, a Muslim woman, Umm-e-Kalsoom stepped forward and requested the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and Abu Bakr^R.A to stay at her house. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) declined saying they would be disturbing her, but she kept insisting. She said that she had a chamber vacant in her house that was not in use by her, therefore he and his companion could stay freely there. She herself would take care of the dromedaries. On her insistence the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) accepted her invitation and went to her house to reside in that chamber.

Meanwhile the people of Madinah came to know of his arrival. Umar^R.A bin Khatab was the first person to reach Quba from Madinah, eager for the sight of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Afterwards other Muslims also began arriving there. Their number grew so much that small chamber could not provide enough accommodation to welcome them all, therefore, a Muslim Sa’ad bin Khaisman handed over his large house for the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) use. However when rest was required, he used to return to the small house of Umm-e-Kalsoom and stay there for the night.

On the third day after his arrival, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) decided to build a mosque. One of the Muslims was ready to donate a piece of land for the purpose, but the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said that he would prefer to buy it - which he did. The price of land is not mentioned in the Islamic history but all the historians agree that this piece of land was bought by the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).

The mosque of Quba is the first "Principal Mosque" of the Muslims as all the Muslims shared in its construction. The nobles like Umar^R.A bin Khatab, Abu Bakr^R.A and Sahaib Roomi and other such eminent people worked like labourers along with others. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) himself kept working from morning to evening like the ordinary people. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) stayed at Quba for twenty days. When the mosque was completed he showed his intention of going to Madinah, which was called "Yathrib" those days.

When the mosque of Quba was completed, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) decided to leave for Madinah. He rode on "Qaswa" and left for Madinah. When the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) reached Madinah, all the Muslims had gathered in the streets and markets of the city. Some of them went to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), held the bridle of the dromedary and requested him to stay in their house. When the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) observed their fondness, he realised that if he stayed at any one of the Muslims it might hurt the feelings of the others and they might begin to think he discriminated among them. He thus said the bridle of his dromedary be left alone. Wherever she sat as willed by Allah, would be the place where he would stay.

The Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) dromedary passed through several alleys and finally entered the alley of "Al-Najjar". A white building at the far end of the alley was prominent in sight. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) recognised this house as it had belonged to Abdul Muttalib’s, mother - Hashim’s wife. The Muslims of Madinah also knew it, therefore they thought that the dromedary would make a stop there, but she continued walking. All the Muslims of Madinah were walking behind the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and were eager to know where she would stop. After covering some distance she reached the grave of the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) father Abdullah.

Some of them thought that she might stop there, but she still continued. After some minutes she reached a place where situated was a house owned by a lady named "Aneesa".

In the days, when the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) mother was still alive and living at Madinah, Aneesa was a young child who used to play with him. Now she was a middle-aged woman. The Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) dromedary did not stop at this place either.

When the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) saw his dromedary not leaving the alley, he recalled memories of his mother and her tribe. Though he had broken away all the ties with his ancestors in Makkah, he was still attached with his maternal relations.

The Qaswa roamed about for some time in the alley of Al-Najjar and then entered a piece of land that was unoccupied. She took few steps forward and then stopped and bowed her knees on the ground. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to confirm her stay as permanent, tried to raise her up, but she did not move.

The place, where she had made her stop, had no house and was used to dry dates. However, at some distance from there, there was a house owned by a person named "Abu Ayub".

When the Muslims saw that she had stopped there, they expressed great joy as they knew that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would build a mosque and construct his house there; and that piece of land would become, as we can call it today, the Head-Quarter for Islam.

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) asked, "Whose place is this?"

One of the Muslims stepped forward and said, "O Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)! This land is owned by two orphan children and I, Asad bin Zararah, am their guardian, I donate this land to you so that you can build a mosque and a house.

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied, "If this place was owned by you and not by these two orphan children, I still would not have accepted it without paying for it. O Asad! As my childhood has been spent as an orphan, and I was deprived of the blessings of parents, therefore I am well aware of what happens to an orphan and of how many grieves he has to face. I am ready to accept this land on one condition that you demand from me twice the price of the ordinary land".

Asad bin Zararah said that the cost of land was seven Dinars.

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) consulted other Muslims who verified the price demanded by Asad bin Zararah. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) announced that he was buying the land for ten Dinars, so that a better piece of land could be bought for the two orphan brothers.

The treasurer of Islam, Abu Bakr^R.A, who was standing behind the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) opened the pouch of money instantaneously and paid the ten gold coins to the owner of the land. It is to be remembered that in those days ten gold Dinars were considered a huge sum of money. Those days neither Makkah, nor Madinah had their currencies. Both the cities had either Roman or Persian coins. Dinar was a gold "Khusravi" or "Dinar-e-Khusarwan". "Harkuli" was the Roman coin named after the king of Harkul. It is to be noted that by Rome is meant "Romat-Al-Sughar" (today’s Turkey) whose capital was Byzantine, which is known as Istanbul today.

On climbing down the dromedary, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) unloaded the luggage with his hands and then looked around to find a suitable place to live. That very moment "Ayub" whose complete name was Abu Ayub Khalid bin Zayd , and whose house was close bye, stepped forward and taking the luggage from the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) hands requested, "O Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) of Allah, I request you to stay at my house".

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) asked whether his house had enough room to accommodate him. Abu Ayub answered, "Definitely! O Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) of Allah". The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "I will stay at your house only on one condition that it will not cause inconvenience to you". Abu Ayub inquired in surprise, "Do you eat that much to be inconvenient for me?"

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) answered, "Whatever little might I eat, it would still be inconvenient to you".

When Abu Ayub realised that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) insisted on not eating from his house, he bowed his head in acceptance. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to go to his house only to sleep. He kept busy along with the other Muslims in the construction of the Mosque. He knew he would have to formulate and train the "Ummat" (the Islamic society) soon.

On the second day after reaching Madinah, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) with the help of all the Muslims began erecting the mosque at the place where his dromedary had sat. All men, including the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) himself, carried soil and stones on their hands, kneaded clay and kept themselves busy in its construction.

The style of architecture of the said mosque became an example for other mosques in the Islamic capital. The mosque was erected by the method; where stones were placed at the depth of about three cubits which is equal to three forearms or 150cm, while laying the foundations. The walls were erected by raw bricks. The roof of the mosque was completed with the trunks of date-palm trees and covered by date-palm leaves, which were called "Jareed".

This mosque was built in seven months. The Muslims made it very strong and durable as Madinah was a city that received much rainfall. If the Mosque had not been built strong enough, the heavy rainfalls would have damaged it. Some Muslims who had migrated from Makkah had no place to live. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) of Islam built a large platform "Safah" of bricks and clay in the mosque for these people to rest at night. He also built a canopy to protect them from the heat of the sun during the day. The canopy was covered by date-palm leaves and branches.

As the place was called "Safah" therefore the people who stayed there were called as "Ahl-e-Safah". Whosoever belonged among them is today recognised as an eminent personality of Islam. Safah, a place that was once the refuge of the poor and the shelterless, became the centre of learning and excellence. It was in Safah where the first University of Islam came into being.

Majority of the Makkan migrants were in utter penury. They had left their livelihoods and families behind. Their hearts were filled with gloom. In addition, they were tormented by rumours propagated by Jews that the womenfolk of the migrants had become sterile. Meanwhile, the wife of a Muslim Abdullah bin Zubayr gave birth to a beautiful healthy boy. This incident washed away these fears. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) seeing the worsening conditions of the migrants directed the Ansar to join themselves with the Makkans in "Ahd-e-Akhuwat" and give them refuge in their houses and share their livelihood so that the Makkans may be helped to revive and sustain themselves.

The sayings of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) were so effective that all the Muslims of Madinah accepted his advice. This way one hundred and eighty-six Makkan migrants bound themselves in Ahd-e-Akhuwat (brotherhood) and moved into the homes of the Medinites.

In the 74th Verse of Surah Anfal of the Holy Qur’an, those Muslims of Madinah have been praised who gave refuge to the migrants from Makkah;

As the Muslims were to build the mosque, they decided that a Mohajir staying at an Ansar’s place would labour one day without wages and on the other day he would work somewhere else to provide living for himself and for his host. The Muslims of Madinah exhibited the same, and each Medinite who had given shelter to a Makkan, laboured for one day for himself and for his host, and on the next day worked without any wages in the cause of Allah.

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) did not bind himself with any person of Madinah. He understood that it might hurt the feelings of those who had not engaged themselves in this bond. Instead he bound himself with his paternal cousin Ali^R.A bin Abi Talib and said, "O Ali^R.A, let us agree on you doing work one day and on the next, I shall go to work". Ali^R.A replied. "O Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) of Allah, your presence is imperative in supervising the construction of the mosque". In addition, there is not a day passed when the Muslims do not come to you to have their problems solved. You visit the mosque daily to supervise the work. I am ready alone to work for your and my livelihood".

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) accepted Ali^R.A’s suggestion. Ali^R.A started carrying water for a rich Medinite who wanted to mould clay into bricks for his house. The distance between the water reservoir and the site where the house was being built was so that Ali^R.A could fetch no more than sixteen buckets of water from dawn to dusk and he was given no more then one grain of date as wages for each bucket of water. Ali^R.A worked for sixteen grains of date daily, eight of which he used to give to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). They both survived on eight grains of date daily for a long period.